tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post3163183896971757756..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: The Enigma of Declining ProductivityStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-9976708922535930022016-08-15T10:35:16.850-07:002016-08-15T10:35:16.850-07:00My own hunch is that productivity is declining bec...My own hunch is that productivity is declining because the people in the workforce are exhausted from working more for less, a trend that's been going on for 15 years at least. Employers have endured 9/11, the 2008 crash, and now the regulatory burden of Obamacare. They have no visibility, so they're more cautious about investing in new equipment and expanding payrolls because they aren't sure about the profitability forecast. So they do more with less, including people. And David Foster is correct, we have machines, processes and algorithms driving human behavior instead of focusing human behavior -- people must fit the system, not the systems maximizing human contribution. It's exhausting. Look at the workforce participation numbers, then look at corporate profitability and the rising prices for stocks. There's something incongruous about all of it. So that's my hunch on the productivity mystery.Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222603717128565302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-56825270550485783652016-08-15T08:39:21.919-07:002016-08-15T08:39:21.919-07:00A particularly awful example of what can happen wh...A particularly awful example of what can happen when automation takes humans out of the loop occurred on the Washington Metrorail system. See my post Blood on the Tracks:<br /><br />http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/43911.htmlDavid Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-71867543998966427202016-08-15T08:37:25.049-07:002016-08-15T08:37:25.049-07:00There are also a lot of cases when the automation ...There are also a lot of cases when the automation is used to take humans out of the loop inappropriately. We were just talking about this at Chicago Boyz. Many chain stores have 'push' inventory systems where headquarters decides the inventory levels of each item at each store...input from store management is neither desired nor accepted. This results in situations like the Wal-Mart in Florida where you can't find a fan from January to March.<br /><br />http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/53602.html<br /><br />All the current hype about Big Data will likely drive a lot more of this kind of things.David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-47857725135712568872016-08-15T08:32:56.550-07:002016-08-15T08:32:56.550-07:00"Technology" by itself does not increase..."Technology" by itself does not increase productivity; it has to be employed intelligently. Many implementations of large-scale systems are done with little consultation with the users and little understanding of how information really needs to flow in the organization. A particularly horrible set of examples can be found in the implementations of Electronic HealthCare Records; there are also plenty in other industries. I have rarely met anyone who felt that his company's 'Enterprise Resource Planning System' really helped more than it hindered for (as an example) new product introductions or pricing strategy changes.<br /><br />Too much focus on the latest technology; too little focus on using it properly.<br /><br />David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-79450090394689188252016-08-15T07:52:20.996-07:002016-08-15T07:52:20.996-07:00My first real job after college was with a small c...My first real job after college was with a small computer-services company (by small, it was the boss, me, and one other tech). As business grew, Boss decided we needed a secretary/receptionist, so he hired an older woman who had retired but needed a bit of extra money, because she could get more done in half-a-day (and done correctly) than any of the newly minted Business School graduates.<br /><br />It's not just age and treachery that trump youth and enthusiasm; it helps to know what you are doing.<br /><br />(However, there is a balance in making openings for younger hires; it's just that they often are replacing older workers rather than being mentored by them and then succeeding them -- not quite the same thing.)<br /><br />(And then there's the whole H1-B visa thing, where younger, inexperienced, and above-all cheaper workers are explicitly replacing older, experienced, and more expensive ones.)AesopFannoreply@blogger.com